Meditation and Climate Change

As a clean energy researcher, prescribing something as passive as meditation for fighting climate change might seem surprising. Not surprised yet? I would go even further to say that meditation is one of the most effective means to fight climate change.

When the pandemic struck last year, an excellent post kept popping up in my Facebook feed. It said, “if you cannot go outside, go inside.” Clearly, it struck a chord with many in my social bubble. There is something about going inside or meditation that is resonating more and more with people. And that something is that — meditation is the core of our being. And so is living in harmony with nature.

Here is why I believe meditation can help fight climate change.

1. You conserve more, naturally: When you meditate, you transform from being a restless activist to a calm practitioner. I first became environmentally conscious in my daily practice only a few years back. I was angry at the world and became an extreme conservationist in my personal life. I would lecture my friends to conserve more. Later. I would observe only the wastage and be crippled even to do anything, as everything has a carbon footprint. Then I thought the effort is futile and gave in to some of my old habits.

Observing your mind or breath is the net practice of using it in the game of your daily life.

Fast forward a few years, now, with meditation, I have naturally become less wasteful. I turn the taps only as much as needed. When using paper products, I am always mindful of using the exact amount needed for the cleaning. I remember more often carrying reusable grocery bags than before. There are two reasons for that: a) I may have truly internalized the concept of conservation at a deeper level, and b) Your actuation and precision on thoughts and action increases with the practice of meditation. Observing your mind or breath is the net practice of using it in the game of your daily life.

Your actuation and precision on thoughts and action increases with the practice of meditation.

2. You travel less compulsively: I used to justify my restless compulsion to travel with my love for nature. But when I silenced my mind, I could derive the same joy in simple things in my surroundings, which I did when traveling to exotic places. In fact, the state of mind is the biggest contributor to the joy you feel. On a particular day, while backpacking in Patagonia, I fought with friends regarding something very trivial. The entire day hiking through the picturesque valleys and glaciers could not repair the state of mind I was in that day. Prepare your mind and senses first and then travel. Also, maybe, just maybe, you will be able to derive joy from your environment so that you need to travel less!

3. You consume less meat: As we all know now, meat consumption has a significant carbon footprint. So much so, Bloomberg labeled beef as the new ‘coal,’ and China plans to halve its meat consumption in the next ten years. I eat meat. But my meat consumption has been naturally reduced after deepening my meditation practice. In this world, we are all connected. Your consciousness slowly expands when you meditate. You try to consume food farther away from you, evolutionary, and closer to the sun. These foods are also at the bottom of the food chain and have less carbon footprint.

4. From “saving the world” to “aligning with nature” mindset: During the angry phase of my conservation journey, ironically, I also felt a moral superiority deep down. I also got an ego boost from the thought that I was somehow saving the world. This mindset further alienated my friends and made my preaching less appealing.

The insight I got from meditation is that the world does not need our ‘saving.’ It can fend for itself as it has for millions of years.

There are currently hundreds of roses blooming in my garden effortlessly. Do you think the intelligence capable of creating this out of thin air needs our “saving”? Meditation has given me the humility that if we align ourselves with nature, it will only fill us with abundance. This humility effectively aligns our actions to the cleaner future goal than the one motivated by the ego.

5. Individual behavior is more potent than what you imagine: At this point, you must be wondering, “Wait! I know this all sounds good at a personal level. But… what about policy, the government?” The answer is, do not underestimate the power of your action at an individual level.

A funny thing (nerd alert! skip if you want): for my research, I often use traffic simulation that individually models each vehicle on the road network, and you collectively derive city-level traffic behavior. There are multiple parameters that the model uses. There is one that allows for changing the “rogueness” factor of each driver. I once set it to “0” for all the drivers, and guess what, the whole city-level traffic congestion disappeared! The collective elevation of our consciousness is more potent than a dry policy without an actual individual change in the mindset.

There is also an esoteric reason if you are open to considering this. The yogis believe an elevated person can induce others just by being around. You do not have to preach and expend any words. Meditators are the real influencers. I know I have started to sound like an ‘irrational hippie,’ but maybe for once, let us acknowledge the possibility. Have you ever been to a room with people and felt odd, happy, or eerie for no apparent reason? After all, we are all walking electromagnetic blobs.

6. Best ideas come to you when you are not actively thinking about the problem: Who knows, maybe the next best idea to fight climate change or implement a policy will surface in your mind when you meditate? As Albert Einstein aptly said, “I stop thinking, swim in silence, and the truth comes to me.” Meditation is not passive. It will prompt you to take the right action at the right time. It will also save you focus, and energy (pun absolutely intended) spent ineffectively in different directions.

Meditation is not passive. It will prompt you to take the right action at the right time. It will also save you focus and energy (pun intended) spent ineffectively in different directions.

However, there is no one way of doing things right. My simulation with cars will collapse if every car is modeled the same with the same origin and destination all the time. I believe we all should do our part according to our core nature and tendencies, our role in society, as scientists, through technological innovation, as economists, policymakers, educators, and citizens. If meditation is your cup of tea, it can be a potent catalyst to expedite things at an individual and collective level.

With meditation, I feel every decision I make is aligned with nature, not against it.

You get more from less. And that’s the core of sustainability.